


The World Ends With You: Retold

by Yuki_Cross99



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Nintendo - Freeform, Nintendo Switch, Retelling, Shibuya - Freeform, Square Enix - Freeform, Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You Spoilers, The Reaper’s Game, Tokyo (City), Urban Setting, Video & Computer Games, nintendo ds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25573270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuki_Cross99/pseuds/Yuki_Cross99
Summary: 15 year old Neku Sakuraba wakes up in the middle of Shibuya to find he has no memories of anything expect for his name. Thrust into a deadly contest called the Reaper’s Game, Neku must team up with his newfound Partner, Shiki. There’s only one thing to remember: Survive for 7 Days, Fail and face erasure.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. Opening

**Author's Note:**

> So to celebrate the release of the anime adaptation of The World Ends With You coming next year, I wanted to challenge myself to retelling the game in the form of a story. 
> 
> Naturally I do not own TWEWY, it’s owned by Square Enix and Jupiter, this is just a fan made recreation.

Nothing but the sound of people, traffic, machines and everything in between fills the air of Shibuya these days. All that could be heard was the noise. Nothing but noise. 

“Outta my face!!! You’re blocking my view.”

The crowds gathered as though it was an attempt to purposely cut off the other side of the scramble from me. Around every turn, it get’s worse. AMX, more noise, more people, it doesn’t ever stop.

“Shut up!!! Stop talking.”

The crowds finally become less frequent, the noise is dying down. Udagawa, the only place that feels like home, is near.

“Just go the hell away!!!”

The mesmerising art of CAT is enough to keep me going. Finally, the noise is gone, the people are gone.

“All the world needs is me. I got my values...so you can keep yours. All right?”

Comfort comes in the form of the headphones I use to keep myself and my thoughts safe from everyone else. Radio silence.

“I don’t get people. Never have. Never will.”

Original Story by Jupiter and Square Enix

THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU: RETOLD

———————————————————————

Lost in my thoughts, the city scenery becomes a blur. Wait...city? That can’t be right, I was at the mural. Retrace your steps, maybe you took a wrong turn. 

“...”

The noise is getting more and more obnoxious, I can’t handle this. What’s going on? My eyes slowly focus and my mind comes to. Why am I in the centre of the scramble, in the middle of the road? I have to get up. 

Something doesn’t feel right. It’s like nobody even noticed I was there...? And come to think of it. What’s this? 

Slowly, I open my hand to reveal a weird looking Pin. It’s black with a white pattern on it. I must have picked it up off the ground, obviously. No harm done, it’s junk. I give a short but somewhat meaningful chuckle, tossing the pin into the air and catching it.

Noise erupts into my ears, destroying the barrier that is my headphones, it’s too much to bare, what is going on? It seems like an eternity, but at last it stops.

“Huh!? What the...I... I CAN HEAR VOICES IN MY HEAD!?”

No, calm down. What just happened? And... where did this pin come from? Hmm... No way... I wonder, if there’s some sort of connection between the two?

“All right, I flipped it last time, so I’ll try that again.” I ready the pin with some hesitation. “Bet if I was some chuuni, I’d probably say ‘Open up your senses’ Tch, good thing I’m normal.” I flip the pin half expecting nothing to happen as I immediately catch it once more.

The noise erupts again. ‘Tenth job’ ‘Tokyo’ ‘Grandfather’ ‘Miss U’ ‘Love plan’ ‘Need sleep’ What!? Voices! DEFINITELY Voices! But...why? Wait. Am I hearing people’s thoughts!? Just... what the hell IS this pin?

*beep beep*

“Huh? Whose phone is that?” I quickly rummage around my pockets pulling out my own phone. “Mine?” There’s a message.

“Reach 104. You have 60 minutes. Fail, and face erasure. — The Reapers”

What!? Is this a joke? “Oh, that’s cute. See ya, spam. Deleted.” And just like that, the message is no more. What is with people these days? 

*beep beep*

“Huh? It’s still there...It’s like the junk mail from hell.” Man what a jo-!? “Oww! My hand...” Slowly, with paced breaths, I shakily look at my palm. There it is, the source of my pain, a timer somehow carved into my hand. A timer, for 60 minutes. This can’t be real. And now... to make this even more confusing.

“Are those frogs...!?” This is surreal, what’s even going on? “OWW! What the... They attacked me! Wh-what so they want with me?” This is bad... “D-down, froggie...” Really bad. I have to run.

“...Ungh! What the hell is going on!?” I can’t keep this up. 

“Somebody!” 

I’m gonna die at this rate.

“Help!”

The noise is too much, nobody can, or rather, nobody will help me.

“Hey...Everybody stop ignoring me!” What is this place... Why am I... “Crap!” Attacked again. I’m losing it.... I gotta run!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted this as a test to see if people would actually be interested in this. I’m experimenting with the style of writing from Neku’s P.O.V., but I think it will work for this story. The only thing I think will be tough is certain battles, but again, this is really only a test for now to see if people like the idea.


	2. Shiki Chapter 1: The Reapers’ Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After coming to at the scramble crossing in Shibuya with a foggy memory and a weird pin that allows him to hear the thoughts of the people around him, Neku must form a shaky pact with his newfound partner and ally, Shiki.

“Man, here we go again...” A groan of displeasure broke through the city’s background noise. “Stop whining. We haven’t had work in forever.” Almost as instantly as it emerged it was marched by a woman’s annoyed tone. “Exactly. It feels like the Monday after my vacation.” A yawn from the bored voice reaffirmed his ideal situation, sitting this Game out. “You’d prefer a permanent vacation?” Again matched by the voice of the annoyed woman, to whom he paid no mind. 

“Day 1 has the most Players. Now’s our chance to rack up some points! How else you gonna make up for last month?” She pleaded in her twisted way getting a sigh in response. “Aight, aight... One more week won’t kill me. Probably.” The two always bickered like this, it was unbelievable to think these two radically different people worked together. 

“Hey, while we’re at it... How ‘bout we play a little game?” The man asked suddenly. “A gaaame?” The woman’s sarcastic tone didn’t deter him. “Yeah, so it doesn’t feel so much like work. C’mon, you’ll love it.” He pressed this further with his odd charm. “Oh, yeah. You know me.” An annoyed groan confirmed his victory over her.

“Ugh... All right, what’s the game?” The man chuckled as he carelessly waved his lollipop around. “Well.. How ‘bout Reaper Sport 3, the ‘Player Hunt’?” The woman raised and eyebrow at his suggestion. “C’mon, let’s see who bags the most Players during today’s mission.” The woman gave sadistic laugh. “Are you joking K? That is NOT fun at all!” ‘K’ shrugged. “You don’t like it?” The woman shook her head. “But...” turning away from him, she gave a chilling grin. “I’m gonna crush you, no contest!” before leaping off into the distance laughing maniacally as she did. “Ohh zing! I might actually have to try now! But, you know the rules!” K left his post, as a slip of paper casually ‘falling’ from his hands, remaining in their meeting spot. ‘The winner buys the loser a bowl of ramen!’ 

————————————————————————  
(Neku’s POV) “I’ve...escaped... I think. I should be safe here at Hachiko.” I really need a moment to collect my thoughts. This is crazy. I mean, frogs? Attacking me!? “OW! Rrgh... these freakin’ frogs...Just leave me alone! I didn’t do anything to you!” I sound crazy right now. The people around me are... wait...

I can’t believe my eyes... This can’t be real. They vanished! Why...why are people disappearing? “What’s going on... why am I even here? What the hell!” They won’t stop attacking me. “Help...” They’re going to... get me... 

“FINALLY! I FOUND ONE!” 

That’s new. Is that... girl coming towards me? What does she want?

“Hey, you! Forge a pact with me!”

...what? 

“Uhh... I’ve kinda got my hands fu—“ “LISTEN! If we forge a pact, we can defeat those Noise!”

This girl must be crazy, I have rabid frogs attacking me. “Again, I’ve got my hands full here! Who cares about a little noise?”

“Are you serious, do you WANT to be erased? Hurry up, we don’t have much time so please, make a pact with me!”

If I agree will it shut her up? Damnit why do I attract the crazy ones... “A-all right, I accept I guess.” I reluctantly have to agree, even though I don’t have a clue what she’s on about. 

“Ok then.” she holds her hand out to me. I, once again, reluctantly go along with her...thing, and go to shake it. Then, as our hands meet, it happens. My body feels weird, and I notice both of us being engulfed in blue light. It only lasts for a few seconds, but it’s bright, other people had to have to seen it right? 

“Here, use this!” I don’t know if I’m surprised by the fact that she’s unfazed by the light show, but she tosses me a...a pin? It’s got a fire pattern on it. 

“B-but the lights?” Did she not see them?

“Forget that, right now we have to stop the Noise!”

She’s deadset on this ‘noise’ thing huh. “What are you talking about?” 

“Use that Pin I just gave you. It’s Pyrokinesis, just activate to attack the Noise.” 

What!? “What about them!?” I frantically point towards the three frogs approaching us. “I don’t have time for your chuuni crap! We need to move!”

“Stop arguing about it, we don’t have the time! Come on, we can take ‘em!” 

No point in arguing further, and no escape. After the light show and everything else that’s happened I may as well give it a shot. If I die...well... I die. Without even thinking, I clutch the pin tightly, and with that, my other hand glows bright orange. 

“NOW! ATTACK ‘EM!” 

I shakily hold out my hand as flames emerge and stop the frogs in their path, vanishing as soon as they touch the flames.

“All right...” I turn to the girl with absolute shock on my face. “Do you wanna explain what the hell I just did!?”

She seems as shocked as I do. “So you CAN use that pin? Thank god, I guess I got the right partner if you can use psychs like that, huh?” 

“Psychs? Is that what those flames are?”

“Yeah! But even better than that, now that we’ve made a pact, the Noise won’t be able to come after us!”

“So in other words we’re safe?”

“You bet! See?” she points behind me to the statue where I just did...well, whatever I just did. “...all gone!”

“Ok... so, what are the Noise?” 

“Uh... were you not paying attention? The monsters we just fought are the Noise, duh.”

Monsters huh? Sure. “Right...” And ‘psychs’? THAT’S what this pin is for? I need real answers.

“Oh but where are my manners? My name’s Shiki Misaki, but...” she holds her hand out again. “...you can just call me Shiki!”

...I call this wack.

“Well...” there’s a hint of disappointment as she lowers her hand. “...we’ve got a long week ahead of us!”

Wait, what? “A...week? Of what exactly?”

“The Reapers’ Game, it’s seven days long right?”

She seems annoyed saying it, almost as though I should know this somehow. Reapers? Excuse me? Who IS this flake?

“So, what’s your name?”

But wait, forget her... Where am I? How did I even get here?

“C’mon, you can tell me your name right?”

Completely blocking her out, I look towards the sign on the outskirts of Hachiko. ‘Shibuya Station’... Ok, so why am I in Shibuya?

“Is... something wrong?”

Oh I’ve got it, the intersection. If I head there, and retrace my steps I’ll be fine. Right.

“Huh!? Hey, whoa... Wait for me!!!”

———————————————————————-

SCRAMBLE CROSSING

Right, so I remember waking up in the street. Logically, I must have passed out. But then...

“Heeeey!” 

Are you kidding me? “Why exactly are you following me?” 

The girl is visibly exhausted, but regardless, has enough energy to retort back. “Why are you making yourself so hard to follow?”

How much longer is this going to go on for... “Screw you, I go where I want.”

“Go? Go where genius?” She approaches me closer than before. “WE. ARE. TRAPPED. HERE!”

“Hey back off, and don’t be stupid, of course we aren’t trapped.” 

“You’re the one being stupid... we made a pact, we’re supposed to stick together...” Whatever she’ going about it, she seems serious about it. “You can’t beat the Noise alone, you already almost died earlier! Keep that up and you won’t survive.”

“Survive what, the ‘Noise’?”

Her expression changes to that of genuine worry. “The Game! Don’t you wanna win?”

“Pfft. Play games in your own time.” I turn away again, seriously, I have my own problems right now.

“Hey! That isn’t funny!” She catches up, again. “They’ll erase us if we don’t win... I know you saw what happened to those people, do you wanna join them?” 

Those people... That’s right, people were disappearing before...

“Besides, we’re Partners, we have to work together.”

“No way! Do NOT make me a part of this.” 

“But you’re already a part of this.” She looks at me with solemn eyes. “You’re a Player now, just like me.” 

More stupid terms. “I’m not playing anything, what do you mean?”

“Oh really?” She holds up a Pin just like the ine I found earlier. “Then why do you have a Player Pin?” Next, she holds up her hand, there’s a timer like the one I saw earlier, it’s counting down from 20 minutes. “Don’t you have a timer on your hand like me too?”

What. The. Hell.

“See, you’re a Player in the Reapers’ Game, just like me...”

This is a lot to take in.

“WAIT! We don’t have time for this! The clock’s ticking, we don’t have much time left, let’s hury to Ten-Four!” 

“What is it with you and these names, ‘Ten-Four’? What’s that meant to be?”

“Ten-Four? 104? You DID get the mail, right? ‘Reach 104 or face erasure.’”

Oh, that junk mail from before. Please, what kind of nut would believe that? Hmm... but today has already been pretty weird. And no matter what I do, she’s gonna follow me anyway. May as well go along and try to figure this out. 

“All right, fine, you win, lead the way.” I cannot believe I’m letting this crazy girl lead me around Shibuya.

“Good. Now, for the last time, tell me your name.” 

“.....” She’s persistent. “Neku. Neku Sakuraba.”

“Neku, huh...?” She seems a bit too focused on this. “Cute name!”

Shut up.

“All right Neku, let’s get to 104!” She points to the large building in the distance. Shrugging at the absurdity of today, I walk along with her.

Without warning, I’m stopped by...something? A barrier! “Hey! There’s no way past here, it’s completely blocked!” 

The girl is taken aback and for once I share he sentiment. “What!? We can’t get through? But, we have to, this is the way to Ten-Four!”

Ok this has been nagging me for ages now, why do I feel like I’m being watched? Is that guy iver there staring at us? 

“...Pact confirmed.” As if to confirm my suspicions a guy in red acknowledges us.

“So Neku, what are we gonna do about this wall?” She walks past me. “Huh!? Hey it’s open!”

“Hm?” Sure enough, as I turn to the approach the wall, it’s gone. “What’s up with that?”

“No idea, a lucky break maybe? Who cares, c’mon, we gotta keep moving.” She runs off ahead to 104.

There’s something about that guy in red. Now that the wall’s gone, so is he. Weird. Suppose I’ll ignore that for now, let’s see what’s happening at 104.

“We made it!” She’s a bit too excited for something like this. 

That said, I take a look at my hand and sure enough, it’s gone. “The timer’s vanished!”

The girl gives a sigh of relief. “Then that means we completed the mission!”

“Pfft, big deal!”

Another person?

“Only an idiot would screw up on the first day! But sooner or later you two will get erased!” The mysterious voice taunts us.

“Hey! Who’s there!?” If they’re hiding they must be a coward.”

“Oh no...is...is that a Reaper?” 

Normally I don’t pay heed to this girl’s delusions, but... this could be one of them.

“Hey, help a girl out and score me a few points would you?” Upon saying that, more frogs appear.

“Hey it’s those Monsters again...” 

“Neku...” The girl speaks cautiously as we back up. “You know how to fight now right?” She doesn’t seem as nervous as before. “This time, focus your thoughts on me!”

“What? Fight your own battles!” 

“Please, we have to in order to stop the Noise!” She’s giving me one of ‘those’ looks.

“...Fine, come on then!” 

This time we both engage the enemy, but before I can attack, she looks towards me, so I just nod. She immediately goes forward and summons a...stuffed toy cat!? What!? 

“Here it comes!” she points forwards as the toy comes to life and attacks the frog. After a few hits the Monster is destroyed, and the cat loses all movement, as she picks it up.

She says something about fighting as a team, but almost immediately we’re thrown into another wave of enemies. As we alternate with my psych and her cat toy, the Monsters are dispatched almost immediately.

I look around us. “Is...is it over?”

The girl jumps back and points behind me. “Look! Over there!”

I see it, a larger...Noise. Whatever it is, it looks tough, but I guess I don’t have a choice. “Hey, Stalker!”

“I’m not a stalker!” She yells back.

“Ugh! Whatever, just...” Is this just a dream? Man... what did I get myself caught up in. “...don’t mess this up, ok?”

The girl nods. “I...I won’t!”

The Noise manifests into a bear, and almost immediately it strikes us with a claw swipe. I’m knocked back, but luckily it’s nothing I can’t handle. The pin that girl saved me, I can’t use it now!

“Stalker, this Pin’s busted!” I call out as we avoid the attacks of the bear.

“It’s not!” she says as she jumps out the way, but ordering the toy to attack. “You just need to wait! You can’t use it immediately every time!” 

What a stupid rule, but fine. Looking around I spot a car and point it out to the girl, as we run over to stall until I can use the Pin again. 

“Hey so why are you using a toy exactly?” I ask quietly, as we catch our breath. 

“I’ll explain that later, look you can use he Pin again, get ready.” She completely avoids the question, but I can’t argue, our cover’s been destroyed, so we rush past trhe bear and plan the attack.

“Go for it!” I launch a fire attack at the bear, trapping it in place as the toy strikes it with multiple claw swipes. After a few more hits, it’s finally defeated. We sit down to catch our breath again. 

“Well Neku, we did it... but, you heard her... Day 1 is nothing. Doesn’t that just mean we’re going to run into harder missions?” She sounds genuinely afraid. “We’ve got six more days... are we... Are we gonna make it?” She looks down to the ground. “I...I don’t want to be erased.” She aighs and takes out her phone.

I can’t believe this... Why am I stuck here? And...What if I’m erased!? What the hell is this game? None of this can be right. I’m...really stuck in Shibuya.

CHAPTER CLOSED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, I am continuing this! I’ve now gotten a better hang of writing In Neku’s POV, but some pointers are appreciated if you think it could be improved. 
> 
> v Light TWEWY Spoilers from here on v  
> |  
> |  
> |  
> |  
> |  
> Also, I’m deliberately not going to have Neku refer to Shiki as her name, even in thoughts, to really drive in the point that he doesn’t call her by name until later. I’m hoping this will come across as a good choice, but I may change it if it doesn’t work.


End file.
